


Deception

by travelledspace (wildestoftales)



Category: Kingsman (Movies), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Everything's pretend until it isn't, F/F, High School AU, M/M, pretend boyfriend, pretend dating, pretend girlfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 18:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9777926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildestoftales/pseuds/travelledspace
Summary: “It is a little funny,” Jaylah insists. “Actually, very funny.”“It's seriously not. Will you do it? You don't have to, I can just tell them you're poorly or tell them the truth or...,” she trails off.Jaylah nods firmly. “Of course I will. Anything for you,” she pauses and smiles – and it's not even teasing or mocking and that's the worst thing about it, it's just a sweet innocent smile when she adds, “Sweetheart.”Roxy is so done for.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, Roxy and Jaylah are EVERYTHING. Everything, I tell you. And who doesn't love the pretend girlfriend trope?
> 
> For the purpose of this, I kinda just imagined Jaylah to look like a younger version of her actress since she's human in this.

Roxy is going to kill Eggsy. She is. She doesn't care that they're lifelong best friends, closer than siblings since they met at the tender age of one year – she's definitely gonna kill him.

She holds Jaylah back from leaving the lunch hall by her wrist. “You have a minute?”

Jaylah nods, eyes dark and concerned, and takes a step aside to let the crowd pass. Roxy must seem crazy what with how nervous she is. God. She's gonna kill Eggsy, find a way to revive him and then kill him _again_. 

Dropping Jaylah's wrist from her grip, Roxy finds she doesn't actually have the words she needs. She licks her lips and says, “Um, I need kind of a favour from you.”

“Of course, Rox,” Jaylah agrees immediately. She doesn't even know what the favour entails. Does she have to be so lovely?

“So, the thing is... you know that I like girls, right?”

Roxy can think of about a hundred things she'd rather do than have this conversation right here and now with Jaylah. But Jaylah simply nods, urging her to go on, so on she goes.

“Well, yeah, I told my parents about it ages ago but they just don't...believe me, I guess? They just keep insisting that there's something between me and Eggsy which is just,” she waves her hand in front of her face to imply how totally insane that idea is – even if Eggsy wasn't gone on that Jim guy a year above them, he's like a brother to Roxy, “and so I told them I had a girlfriend. Just to get them off my back, you know?”

Jaylah frowns. “I didn't know you had a girlfriend,” she says, sounding... put out? Maybe Roxy's just imagining that part.

“I don't!” she hurries to add. “I just wanted them to leave me alone about Eggsy, for godsake. Well and then they kept asking all these questions and wanted to meet my totally imaginary girlfriend and then,” she stops and hesitates before soldering on, blurting the words out in a rush, “fucking Eggsy told them my girlfriend's name was Jaylah.”

There's a moment of silence as Jaylah cocks her head ever so slightly to the side to digest the new information.

“And now you're invited to dinner with me and my parents and Eggsy's mum and sister and Eggsy himself and don't ask why he's there cause I don't know either!”

“So your parents think we're girlfriends?”

Roxy knows, she _knows_ that Jaylah is just asking for clarification but god, if her heart doesn't jump at the word 'girlfriends'.

Eggsy Unwin is a dead man.

“Yeah. I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess but it would be really, really amazing if you could come over for dinner tomorrow and just kind of... pretend to be my girlfriend? Only for one night, I promise! Then I'll tell them we broke up or something, I will.”

A small smile lights up Jaylah's face. 

Roxy groans. “Oh my god. It's not funny!”

“It is a little funny,” Jaylah insists. “Actually, very funny.”

“It's seriously not. Will you do it? You don't have to, I can just tell them you're poorly or tell them the truth or...,” she trails off.

Jaylah nods firmly. “Of course I will. Anything for you,” she pauses and smiles – and it's not even teasing or mocking and that's the worst thing about it, it's just a sweet innocent smile when she adds, “Sweetheart.”

Roxy is so done for.

–

“You need to at least kiss her cheek!”

“I don't need to do anything! _You_ need to find a new best friend, that's what you need to do.”

Eggsy just smiles indulgently like the asshole that he is. “Seriously, who doesn't kiss their girlfriend hello?”

“Someone who doesn't actually have a girlfriend maybe?”

“Not yet, you mean,” Eggsy says.

Roxy steps in front of her mirror to fiddle with her hair for the umpteenth time. “You can't honestly think that making Jaylah pretend to be my girlfriend is going to somehow make her actually interested in me.”

“I maintain that she already is interested and just needs a little push,” Eggsy counters. “Stop looking at yourself, Rox, you look totally fine. You're the prettiest girl in school.”

Roxy meets Eggsy's eyes in the mirror just so she can roll hers at him. 

“Aw,” he says, smiling sweetly, “Are you thinking that actually Jaylah is the prettiest girl in school?”

“I'm thinking about the best way to hide your body.”

Before Eggsy can banter back, the doorbell rings. Since Eggsy's family is already downstairs with Roxy's, it has to be Jaylah.

Before Roxy has time to have a proper nervous breakdown, Eggsy hugs her firmly from behind. “It'll be fine, promise! You're wonderful and anyone would be lucky to be with you. And if Jaylah can't see that, I'll kick her ass.”

Roxy sighs, taking comfort in the embrace before peeling out of it and walking towards the door determinedly. “Stop sweet-talking me and help me get through this.”

–

Jaylah actually is the prettiest girl in school, as far as Roxy is concerned. Or the prettiest girl anywhere, really.

That's the problem.

When Jaylah had walked in on that first day a few months ago, Roxy had immediately been done for. All dark hair and eyes and sweet frowns whenever she didn't immediately get a new English expression she'd never heard before. Of course Roxy was all too willing to explain them all to her.

She recalls quite clearly the curse that had escaped her upon seeing Jaylah for the first time and how Eggsy had laughed at her, calling her adorable. (Like he had any leg to stand on, with his crush on Jim.)

Roxy had tried subtle flirting at first. Touching her a bit more than was necessary, eye contact and sweet smiles, the likes. Nothing. 

She had been ready to throw in the towel then but Eggsy had said she needed to be more obvious, seeing as Jaylah was from a different culture and all. English wasn't even her first language, he'd argued.

So she'd tried that too. Everything short of actually asking her out – she was too scared of a rejection, too hesitant to sacrifice their blooming friendship on it. Even outright compliments and actual real-life hand-holding had never yielded more than a a fond smile out of Jaylah.

So Roxy had given up. Maybe Jaylah just wasn't into girls. So over the last two weeks, she'd tried her best to get over Jaylah – even signed up for an online dating website for godsake!

She was loathe to admit that the whole 'getting over Jaylah' thing hadn't been going well even before Eggsy's harebrained scheme, but now? Now it was just going to get harder, after a long, long evening of pretending to be Jaylah's girlfriend.

–

“We'll get it!” Roxy yells into the general direction of the kitchen just so no one else will try to get the door first. She really doesn't need for her family to see her “greeting” Jaylah. 

At the door, Roxy hesitates.

“Come on, Rox,” Eggsy says from where he's standing next to her. At least he isn't leaving her entirely alone to suffer the consequences of his interfering. “Just do it. Like ripping off a plaster. It's just Jaylah.”

Sending him a dark look, Roxy finally opens the door.

Only to almost slam it shut again in shock. 

There's Jaylah. So far, so good. She's dressed in the cutest light blue dress and holding a bouquet of flowers. That's – unexpected but not too bad. Sweet, actually, that she's trying to make a good impression on Roxy's family.

What's totally fucking unexpected and without any reasonable explanation whatsoever is that next to her is standing Jim fucking Kirk, dressed up nicely, holding the same bouquet of flowers. 

“Um,” Eggsy says and Roxy very much echoes that sentiment.

“Hello Eggsy, hello Roxy,” Jaylah says sweetly and leans forward to press a kiss to Roxy's cheek and hand her the flowers. It's like she's practised proper date behaviour.

Roxy's brain is seconds from short-circuiting.

“Right so!” Jim says brightly, not at all concerned about showing up unannounced, and hands Eggsy his own flowers. “You must wonder what I'm doing here?”

Roxy almost laughs at that. Eggsy is holding the flowers like they're going to bite him any moment. She can practically hear his mind going 'what the fuck what the fuck what the bloody fuck' over and over again. 

“I told him about our plan!” Jaylah says and smiles. 

“And I thought why not throw both your families off your trail completely, you know? Hit two birds with one stone, so to speak. So for tonight,” he turns his bright smile on Eggsy, “I'm your boyfriend. If you don't mind, of course.”

“That's–,” Eggsy starts.

“A brilliant idea if I've ever heard one. Come in, you two,” Roxy interrupts before Eggsy's brain can get the better off him.

Besides, she deserves a little revenge, doesn't she?

“Are you sure?” Eggsy asks Jim. “That you don't mind?”

“I wouldn't be here if I did, would I?”

Eggsy pulls a hand through his hair and Roxy can see the edges of a smile starting. Eggsy's completely taken aback but he's not unhappy.

“Okay, I'll just... Let me just talk to my mum real quick so she won't have a heart attack or something.”

Pretty much running, Eggsy disappears down the hall, still holding the flowers.

Jim and Jaylah step inside. Jim sacks against the closed door and for the first time he doesn't seem so self-assured. He's clearly nervous as he watches Eggsy leave.

“Okay, Roxy, level with me here. Did I read everything wrong and am now making a complete fool out of myself?”

“I'm sure Eggsy likes you!” Jaylah insists.

Roxy smiles at her, then regards Jim. “You are making a little bit of a fool out of yourself, yeah. But you didn't read anything wrong.”

Jim beams at that and Roxy doesn't know him well with him since they're in different grades but she thinks she could like him. 

When Eggsy comes back down the hall to call them for dinner, Jaylah takes Roxy's hand in hers.

Roxy startles.

“Girlfriends, right?” Jaylah asks with a nod towards their hands.

“Yeah,” Roxy agrees. She can't help herself and squeezes Jaylah's hand in hers. “Girlfriends.”

–

It's...less awkward than Roxy would have thought. 

Jim apologises for showing up unannounced “I wasn't sure I could make it but then I managed and I just couldn't wait any longer to meet you, Mrs. Unwin! And you of course, Miss Daisy,” charming every adult in the room as well as Eggsy's little sister within seconds, his arm dropped ever so casually around Eggsy's waist.

Roxy's parents for their part seem to like Jaylah's straight-forward way. There doesn't seem to be a dishonest bone in her body, the way she's always so charmingly and obviously honest. 

“You have such pretty eyes,” she says to Roxy's mum suddenly when she's handing her the potatoes. “Just like Roxy's.” It doesn't even sound like a compliment she's saying to please others – from Jaylah it just sounds like a simple observation she's made and is now sharing.

Roxy's eyes meet Eggsy's and at least he's as much out of his depth as she is – that much is clear.

Really, Jaylah isn't behaving any different towards Roxy than is usual for them. It's just that almost everyone at the table thinks they're a couple that gets to Roxy. It makes her self-conscious and leaves her feeling like she's sitting too far away from her as well as too close at the same time. 

At least she can beg off telling the tale of their getting together by arguing that it's embarrassing in front of her parents which gets her an indulgent smile from her dad and a wink from Jaylah.

Eggsy isn't that lucky as Jim spins a tale involving secret love notes left in Eggsy's locker.

Jim's a charming guy and that's what he's trying to do – charm Eggsy's mum and sister into approving of him. But ever so often he throws a glance at Eggsy, mostly when Eggsy isn't looking, to check for his reaction. To see if he's getting to him too. 

In those tiny moments his expression is wide open, the smile dropping from his face for an instant, and Roxy likes him all the more for it.

Soon enough they're done with dinner and desert and Jaylah is telling a story of her misunderstanding the phrase 'you're welcome' when she first came to England, constantly thinking everyone was welcoming her and being surprised how lovely everyone was.

As she's explaining that it was Jim who finally told her that it was just a polite phrase said in reply to a thank you – Roxy feels Jaylah's hand reaching out for her, turning her hand own over on her palm so that Jaylah can hold it in hers.

Unsure of what she's is trying to do, Roxy lifts their joined hands higher so they can rest them on the table, thinking perhaps Jaylah wants to be a little more obvious to make sure her parents aren't suspicious. Except Jaylah ever so gently presses their hands back down to lie on Roxy's knee, all the while not breaking conversation.

She casts a helpless glance at Eggsy, fervently wishing they'd spontaneously learn how to telepathically communicate just so she can yell her confusion at him. 

Eggsy, however, seems just as confused. Jim's arm is now around his shoulder as he turns dinner conversation from Jaylah's misadventure to asking Daisy with great interest about her favourite activities in kindergarten. Eggsy shrugs lightly when he notices Roxy looking. There's a slight flush in his cheeks.

At least they're in this together, Roxy thinks.

–

Jaylah only lets go of her hand when she's hugging her parents and Eggsy's mum goodbye and extends a hand to Daisy. 

“Make sure you're back by eleven!” Roxy's dad tells her and that's just embarrassing.

“I'm just walking Jaylah home,” Roxy counters.

“Yeah,” her mum laughs and glances at her dad. “I know that excuse.”

Well, Roxy didn't need to know that.

“Are you sure you're good to get home alone?” Eggsy asks his mum for the second time, overprotective of his mum and sister as ever. 

“We live down the street, baby, it's fine. Go walk your boyfriend home.”

This time it's Roxy who gathers all her courage and reaches out for Jaylah's hand when they step outside to wait for Eggsy to finish worrying.

Jim has actual heart in his eyes when he looks at Eggsy. Then he smoothly suggests, “Why don't I walk all three of you home instead?”

Eggsy beams. “I can still walk you home after, though.”

“Sounds like a deal,” Jim agrees.

Roxy and Jaylah separate from the group as they head into different directions. Jim kisses Roxy goodbye on the cheek and does the same to Jaylah. He really is a charming one.

For a while Jaylah and Roxy walk on, Roxy silently wondering whether Jaylah will drop her hand as soon as they're out of sight or if she's supposed to do it?

“Thank you for helping me out,” she says to break the silence. “And for the flowers. That was really lovely of you.”

“Jim said that you never show up to a date without flowers,” she says. “And I had fun. Your parents are nice.”

Roxy smiles at that. “I'm glad you did.”

Jaylah directs her to turn right at the end of the street. They're now well out of sight of Roxy's house but still, they're holding hands. 

“Do you think your parents will leave you alone about Eggsy now?” Jaylah asks.

At that, Roxy has to laugh. “Definitely! I'm fairly sure they're in love with you now. You were perfect. You are – perfect. Actually,” she says, her voice getting quieter.

Jaylah smiles to herself but doesn't look at Roxy or replies.

“Uh, don't worry, though. You won't have to do that again. I'll wait a week or so and then just tell them we broke up. I'll make it seem like completely my fault, too.”

After contemplating Roxy's words for a minute, Jaylah says, “I don't think you should do that, Rox.”

“Why not? You’d think I should wait longer?”

“No,” Jaylah disagrees and stops walking to properly look at her.

She drops Roxy's hand.

“Because I really like you and I think you shouldn't tell your parents we broke up but instead be my girlfriend. Not for pretend, but really.” As if remembering her manners suddenly, Jaylah adds belatedly, “If you want.”

“Are you – oh my god!” Roxy doesn't know what to do with her hands, can't hold still for the life of her so she steps in close and takes Jaylah's face in her hands. “You're not serious! Are you serious?”

Jaylah nods. “I like holding your hand.”

“I've been trying to hit on you for, like, forever! Oh god. Can I kiss you?”

Jaylah looks puzzled. “You have?”

When Roxy nods, a sweet and pleased smile blooms on Jaylah's face. Roxy would have liked to look at it for a couple of seconds more but Jaylah leans forward and captures her lips in a kiss and yeah. Yeah, that's better. Way better.

–

It's close to eleven and they haven't even gotten to Jaylah's house yet, too distracted with each other. They have to stop every couple of seconds to just be _close_.

“Your phone keeps vibrating,” Jaylah complains. 

“Probably just my parents,” Roxy says, holding her tighter still and breathing her in.

(When she checks later, she'll see that actually it was Eggsy who has been blowing up her phone with texts:

_HOLY FUCKING SHIT JIM ASKED ME FOR A DATE_

__a real one_ _

___also got a KISS out of it rox can you believe that_ _ _

____PLEASE tell me you got somewhere with jaylah_ _ _ _

_____please!!! she's totally into you_ _ _ _ _

______am feeling like a total GENIUS right now btw so tell me you guys kissed or something_ )_ _ _ _ _


End file.
